This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Moments of joy can emerge in an instant.

“I was making a pie, and then I got a phone call,” senior Liam Selden said.

Other times, happiness transcends the present moment.

“I would like to try and never focus on happy moments,” professor Marty Knight said. “I’d rather try to look at happiness as a state of mind, something which is more permanent.”

For Selden, that phone call meant acceptance and a full scholarship to St. Thomas’ School of Law. For Knight, gratitude adorned his 2021.

“I’m just extremely happy to be alive and healthy,” Knight said, “and incredibly grateful to be able to teach college students and have a wonderful daughter that I’m going to visit.”

Regardless of how one measures happiness or satisfaction, people forget that they happen around us as often as pain and despair do. TommieMedia interviewed 30 students, faculty and staff around campus in the past week to ask about the best moments they experienced in 2021.

Shamika Brown, a coordinator in the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office, got a terrier puppy named Bear for her children.

“I saw a puppy that was available, so I surprised them with it,” Brown said. “It was in June, and now he gets on our nerves.” She paused to laugh before becoming serious again. “That’s probably the only thing since COVID hit that made them smile.”

When asked about their happiest moment of the year, some students used images to jog their memories.

“I need to scroll through some pictures,” senior Natalie Bents said before remembering, “Oh, one of my friends got married … I was the maid of honor in her wedding. She was the first to get married among my peers, so that’s kind of crazy to think about. That was exciting, just thinking about the next phase of life.”

Graduate student Julio Pinto and junior Alondra Rojas already entered a new phase of life in 2021 through studying internationally.

“I’m an international student. I moved here like, three months ago, and it wasn’t a precise moment, but those first days here were truly amazing,” Pinto said.

Domestic travel also topped some people’s lists. Senior Devin Varner hiked to the peak of Angel’s Landing in Utah’s Zion National Park. Former adjunct faculty member Odeh Muhawesh went to Flagstaff, Arizona with family. Sophomore Derek Murphy toured the western U.S.

“We road tripped down to California, Arizona, Colorado, went to Vegas and stuff like that,” Murphy said. “Spending time with my family is what makes me happy.”

2021 had a soundtrack for a few students. This summer, sophomores Asa Williams and Howie Gerstner attended their first concerts since before the pandemic. Sophomore Logan Bahr threw his own concert for a few minutes, citing singing Rick Astley’s “Together Forever” as his happiest moment.

“That was the best,” Bahr said. “It was a Flynn (Hall) fourth floor karaoke night event. They booked out the ASC dance hall, and I got to sing karaoke.”

Student-athletes like senior football player Mark Schmitz returned to fields, courts and pitches for the 2021-22 school year after COVID-19 prevented most competition. St. Thomas women’s tennis players celebrated an even greater return this summer after believing they would never play for the university again.

“When they reinstated the women’s tennis team. … I was with a bunch of girls on my tennis team, and we had a call from our lawyer that St. Thomas wanted to reinstate it and not fight it,” sophomore tennis player Ashley Hatch said.

Many St. Thomas athletes, like junior women’s hockey player Luci Bianchi, experienced their first taste of victory at the Division I level.

Sophomore soccer player Caden McLagan said, “Having my first actual college season was pretty awesome… Toward the end of the season, we finally got three wins in a row.”

Collectively, the St. Thomas community toasted to new jobs, birthdays and lifetime achievements this year.

“I’d say my wedding anniversary,” Bill Stevenson, associate dean of the St. Paul Seminary, noted. “I love my wife. We’ve been married for 28 years.”

Many are simply glad to be where they are, and that’s also worth celebrating.

“There’ve been so many good opportunities, and I’ve met so many good people this year,” junior Genevieve Tester said. “There’s not like a specific moment, but in general, the vibe on campus and the people I’ve met is my happiest moment of 2021.”

Mia Laube can be reached at mia.laube@stthomas.edu.